Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to an air cleaner apparatus for a vehicle and a mold unit for fabricating the same and, more particularly, to an air cleaner for a vehicle and a mold unit for fabricating the same, in which the airtightness and strength of a case of the air cleaner is increased to reduce noise emission while the vehicle is being driven, thereby improving noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) performance.
Description of Related Art
Typically, an intake system of a vehicle takes in external air, which is used for combustion. When impurities are introduced into an engine, the engine may be damaged due to abnormal combustion or trouble in the engine, which are problematic. Therefore, the intake system is configured such that the intake external air passes through an air cleaner and a filter member filters impurities from the air.
The filter member is provided inside the air cleaner. The filter member is consumable part that must be replaced after a certain period of time has passed. According to an air cleaner as the related art, the air cleaner has the shape of a drawer having a replacement cover at the front such that the filter member can be easily stored into or taken out of the air cleaner without the necessity of detaching the replacement cover from a body.
In this air cleaner for a vehicle, the cover and the body are coupled with each other by vibration welding using ultrasonic waves. In general, ultrasonic welding is a technique whereby electric energy is generated from a power supply of a welder in response electric power being inputted, the electric energy is converted into mechanical vibration energy using a vibrator and a booster, and then the vibration energy is transmitted to workpieces to be machined by means of a tool horn. When the vibration energy is transmitted to the workpieces through the tool horn, strong vibration generates frictional heat such that welding and bonding occurs at bonding surfaces of the workpieces. This ultrasonic welding is widely used for welding plastic or metal, suturing fabric or film, welding cable terminals, or the like.
In the related art, however, a welding surface where the cover and the body are welded is positioned at an upper side, and thus is positioned inside a receptacle into or from which the filter member is stored or taken. After the welding process of the cover and the body, it is difficult to ensure dimensional stability against deformation. When the welding surface is formed at a lower position in order to overcome this problem, a sufficient space is not obtained, and thus a sealing structure is not formed, which is problematic.
In addition, a flange structure that is formed to fix the cover and the body when welding the cover and the body together leads to a molding condition that allows a strength-increasing reinforcement rib to be formed only in one direction, i.e. a vertical direction.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.